Del. doctor indicted in serial child-abuse scandal

DOVER, Del. — Prosecutors expect to add more counts to a lengthy indictment against a Delaware pediatrician charged with serial molestation of 103 children as investigators urge former patients and parents to come forward.

A grand jury returned a 160-page indictment Monday against Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes.

The case has shocked the close-knit coastal community of Lewes and the central Delaware town of Milford, where Dr. Bradley closed an office in 2005 after police investigated him.

Dr. Bradley’s attorney, Eugene Maurer, said he would seek to move the trial out of Sussex County. But he said the “real battleground” in the case will be Dr. Bradley’s mental state, not what is seen on videotapes seized from Dr. Bradley’s home and office or alleged in the indictment.

Announcing the grand jury’s indictment, Attorney General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, mainly girls but including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998.

“The charges in this indictment are unique in the history of the state of Delaware, as far as I can tell,” he said.

The charges against Bradley include rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child, assault and reckless endangering.

Dr. Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for allegedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.

Mr. Maurer said he had not read the indictment but was not surprised by the allegations.

“I’m sure they have their reasons for including all these different victims in this indictment,” said Mr. Maurer, noting that under state law, a single conviction of rape would be enough to put Dr. Bradley behind bars for life.

The indictment alleges Dr. Bradley was videotaping his sexual exploitation of patients as far back as December 1998. Many victims were assaulted repeatedly, some on consecutive days, according to the indictment, which alleges that one girl was raped more than a dozen times over a period that lasted more than a year.

Authorities would not say whether they think Dr. Bradley had videotaped all of his alleged assaults or whether there may be more victims.

“I expect that we will add to this indictment with new charges over the coming months,” Mr. Biden said.

He encouraged parents and victims of Dr. Bradley, “regardless of age or gender,” to contact prosecutors, who have sent out about 3,100 letters to Dr. Bradley’s patients and set up an office in Lewes to handle complaints and direct potential victims and their families to counseling and other services.

Sussex County Prosecutor Paula Ryan declined to say how many alleged victims seen on videotape have been identified by name, or to provide an age range. The indictment refers to each alleged victim only as “Jane Doe” or “John Doe.”

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